The France–Switzerland border is long. Its current path is mostly the product of the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

of 1815, with the accession of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

and

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

to the

Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerlan ...

, but it has since been modified in detail, the last time being in 2002. Although most of the border, marked with border stones, is unguarded, several checkpoints remain staffed, most notably on busy roads.

Detailed path

The

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

where the border meets the Germany–Switzerland border and

France–Germany border The international border between the modern states of France and Germany has a length of . The southern portion of the border, between Saint-Louis at the border with Switzerland and Lauterbourg, follows the River Rhine (Upper Rhine) in a so ...

is in the river

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

(at ) north of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. A monument has been built near it, known as the Dreiländereck. Grenzverlauf CH F

The border follows the

Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...

for about . It then runs south of EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg and then towards the southwest, separating the villages of Schönenbuch (Switzerland), Neuwiller (France), Leymen (France) and Rodersdorf (Switzerland). It then enters the Jura chain, rising above of altitude before meeting the La Lucelle river at , between Roggenburg, Basel-Country and Kiffis (France). It follows the Lucelle as far as Lucelle municipality, running across the grounds of Lucelle Abbey. It then turns north to include the Swiss

canton of Jura The Republic and Canton of Jura (officially in ), less formally the Canton of Jura or Canton Jura ( ; ), is the newest (founded in 1979) of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capital is Delémont. It shar ...

; it crosses the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Brémoncourt, to include the Clos du Doubs region in Switzerland. It meets the Doubs a second time further upstream, at . From here, it follows the winding course of the river as far as the Lac des Brenets, north of

Le Locle Le Locle (; ) is a Communes of Switzerland, municipality in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is situated in the Jura Mountains, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. It is the third smallest city in Switzerland (in Swit ...

, at . After passing the Col des Roches at , the border runs in a south-westerly direction, generally following the Jura ridge, reaching an altitude of (''Le Meix Musy''). It turns towards the south to include

Pontarlier Pontarlier ( ; Latin: ''Ariolica'') is a Communes of France, commune and one of the two Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectures of the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern ...

in France and again to the southwest to include Vallorbe and the Lac de Joux in Switzerland. Here it reaches an altitude of , before crossing the Orbe river upstream of

Bois-d'Amont Bois-d'Amont () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Jura department The following is a list of the 492 communes of the Jura department of France. Th ...

South of Les Rousses it turns to the south and then southeast, running towards

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

, rising to at , passing south of La Dôle peak. Some before reaching the lake, the border runs parallel to the shore of Lake Geneva, forming the strip of land ceded by France to Switzerland in 1815 as the

canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...

, so that the City of Geneva has a land bridge connecting it to the rest of Switzerland. Border stone 126

The border now encircles the City of Geneva. West of the city, it follows the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

for some , until the westernmost point of Switzerland, at . The border passes between Geneva and

Annemasse Annemasse (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Anemâsse'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. Even though it covers a relativ ...

, heading east towards Saint-Cergues; it finally finds Lake Geneva from the south, at Hermance. The border runs along the centre of Lake Geneva, but makes landfall before reaching the mouth of the

, at

Saint-Gingolph Saint-Gingolph is a small town situated on the south bank of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). It sits at the France–Switzerland border and is administratively divided into Saint-Gingolph, Switzerland, Saint-Gingolph, Valais (Switzerland) and Saint-Gingol ...

, which marks the western end of the Saint-Gingolph–Saint-Maurice railway in Switzerland. A project exists to reuse a now-abandoned line to

Évian-les-Bains Évian-les-Bains (), or simply Évian (, , or ), is a Communes of France, commune in Eastern France, by the border with Switzerland. It is located in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. A high-m ...

in France and thereby reconnect the two countries by train on the south shore of Lake Geneva. From here, the border runs south and southeast into the High Alps, forming the western border of the

. It passes Les Cornettes de Bise (), the Dent de Barme (), Petit Ruan (), the Pointe des Rosses (), the Pointe de la Fenive () and Le Cheval Blanc (), placing the Lac du Vieux Émosson in Switzerland. From Grand Perrond (), the border descends to , crossing the road from

Martigny Martigny (; , ; ) is the capital city of the district of Martigny (district), Martigny, cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Valais, Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 20,000 inhabitants ( ...

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, before ascending to Les Grandes Otanes (), the Aiguille du Tour (), the

Aiguille d'Argentière The Aiguille d'Argentière () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc Massif, Mont Blanc massif on the border between France and Switzerland. The second highest summit of the Aiguille d'Argentière is the prominent rock-tower ''Flèche Rousse'' () south ...

(), Tour Noir () and finally to the tripoint with the French–Italian and Swiss–Italian borders, at a point just west of Mont Dolent, and at altitude.

Border checks

Since Switzerland's accession to the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

in 2008, there have been no permanent passport controls along the border, although there can be customs controls. There are two airports near the border which have both Swiss and French passport and customs controls; passengers are free to choose one. These are: EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg which is located in France, but passengers can go to Switzerland without going through French border controls; and

Geneva Airport Geneva Airport – formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport – is an international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. It is located northwest of the city centre. It surpassed the 15-million-pas ...

which is located in Switzerland, but passengers arriving on flights from France can go to France without going through Swiss border controls. The Geneva Airport runway was extended in 1960 after France and Switzerland swapped territories to make this possible.

Road customs control stations

An incomplete list of Customs stations from northeast to south: *Basel/St. Louis-Autobahn (E25/A35/A3) *Boncourt/Delle-Autoroute (E27/N1019/A16) *Col France (D461/20) *Vallorbe (E23/N57/9) *Bardonnex (A41/1) *Thônex-Vallard (A411) *St-Gingolph (D1005/21) There are several other roads which cross the border, but most are without staffed customs controls.

Transportation

Rail

cross-border services between France and Switzerland exist on the following railway lines (from North to South): * Strasbourg–Basel railway between and (served by ,

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

) * Delémont–Delle railway between and (served by ) * Besançon–Le Locle railway line between and (served by TER) * Neuchâtel–Pontarlier railway between and (served by TER and ) * Dijon–Vallorbe railway between and (served by TER) * Lyon–Geneva railway between and (served by Léman Express line , TER,

) * CEVA rail between and (served by Léman Express lines , , , and ) * Longeray-Léaz–Bouveret railway ( Tonkin Railway) between and (cross-border section currently closed) * Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway between and (served by TER, R)

Tram

the following

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

lines operate on cross-border routes: * Basel tram Line 3 was extended to Saint-Louis in France in 2017 * Basel tram Line 10 twice, with one station ( Leymen) in France * Geneva tram Line 17 was extended to

in France in 2019

Large Hadron Collider

The

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, ...

(LHC), the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator, built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), extends across the border near the Swiss city of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France-Switzerland border European Union external borders Borders of France Borders of Switzerland International borders